


Paradise City

by StonerKeith



Series: Stoner Keith [3]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Hotboxing, M/M, Smoking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-24
Updated: 2018-09-24
Packaged: 2019-07-16 08:18:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16082168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StonerKeith/pseuds/StonerKeith
Summary: Lance tries to chug one hit after another, leaving the back of his neck buzzing to the tune coming out of Keith’s stereo as he takes one final puff. “Fuck dude,” he mutters, getting caught up in the way the smoke dances around the car. “You weren't fucking kidding about this box-hotting stuff”Another snort from Keith. “Hotboxing,” he corrects.Part 3 of the Stoner Keith college au





	Paradise City

Lance begins to wonder when he and Keith stopped being “acquaintances who smoke weed together in the bathroom at 3am” and transitioned into “friends who actually hang out off campus.” He’s sitting low in the passenger seat of Keith’s black 2013 Dodge Challenger, feeling the wind from the open windows rush against his arm as he drapes it along the side. Keith is focused on the road in front of him, slightly nodding his head along with the guitar from the song that’s steadily thrumming out the speakers.

 

The thoughts of their friendship timeline come to a halt when Keith suddenly turns his head to meet Lance’s eyes. “Wanna pull off and smoke? I just got a new strain.”

 

It takes Lance a moment to consider and he meets Keith’s gaze. “What, like, smoke in your car? Won't that smell really bad, dude?” He quirks an eyebrow.

 

Instead of a verbal response, Keith turns back to the road and simply digs his hand into his side door. He pulls out a small canned fragrance spray with fancy writing on it.  _ Alpine Noir _ , it says. “You down?” is all he asks.

 

Lance huffs out a breath. “Yeah sure, why not?”

 

“Nice.” Keith replies and switches lanes to pull off on a side road leading closer to the edge of town. It’s not too far out of the way, and soon Lance sees them pull off at a road that curves upward. Just a little up the road is a sign that reads  _ Pioneer Lake _ . Trees begin to decorate the rails near the side of the pavement, quickly shifting to dense groupings supported by the clusters of bushes that sprout up between them.

 

“This is one of the more nature-y spots I like to go smoke at. It’s usually pretty secluded.” Keith’s words break through his attention to their surroundings. They park further down the lot that the road empties out into, using the thick trees to obscure the sight of the car from the main road. “Alright,” Keith starts, “hotboxing will get you slightly more high than a usual smoke session so keep that in mind I guess.”

 

“Okay. I think I’m ready.” Lance takes a deep breath, getting that determined look on his face that always appeared right before he took a hit. 

 

Keith snorts out a slight laugh, a sound which Lance still wasn’t used to hearing out of him. He appreciated any time he could make Keith laugh, once he started comparing it to the stoic and collected Keith he usually saw in class. He watches as the bowl to the pipe,“Red” he named it, is lightly packed with some pre-ground bits that were emptied out from a container that looked similar to a pill bottle.

 

With a flick of the simple black lighter, Keith lights the bowl, sucking the smoke deep inside his lungs and waiting a few moments before pulling the pipe away exhaling with a drawn out sigh.  _ Fuck, _ Lance muses internally,  _ That looked too good and way too up close. _

 

Keith raises the pipe upwards again, taking in another hit with the chain of smoke that was still curling out the opening of the bowl. His breath this time is more slow, inhaling as if he was at his most relaxed state in that moment. Again, he waits a few seconds before releasing the smoke into the enclosed area. 

 

Lance’s head begins to feel slightly dizzy, his eyes stuck on the trail of soft white clouds escaping from Keith’s open lips.  _ There’s no way I’m already high. I haven’t even taken a hit yet. Speaking of-  _ “Pass it over here,” he manages to force out.

 

The lids of Keith’s eyes lower, and his vision roams over Lance’s impatient face until he hands him the glass pipe and lighter with a lopsided smile. He watches as Lance finally takes his own first hit, coughing slightly from the burn in the back of his throat. The smoke comes out in small bursts, which Keith can tell he isn’t too pleased about. Lance tries again, this time inhaling more continuously and getting the smoke enter his lungs more evenly. There’s no coughing, which makes him grin and nudge his friend a couple times in the arm. 

 

“Guess you shouldn't have told me the secret to looking cool when you smoke.”

 

“Oh shut up and pass it here.”

 

They pass Red back and forth, filling another half bowl once the first turns to ash. Lance tries to chug one hit after another, leaving the back of his neck buzzing to the tune coming out of Keith’s stereo as he takes one final puff. “Fuck dude,” he mutters, getting caught up in the way the smoke dances around the car. “You weren't fucking kidding about this box-hotting stuff”

 

Another snort from Keith. “Hotboxing,” he corrects.

 

Lance beams at him, more elated that he got the other to laugh again than anything in that moment. “You know what I mean.” They both turn silent, the hypnotic riffs of the guitar guiding the waves of euphoria over Lance’s body. Keith continues to nod along to the bass and drums that support the dreamy melody. After getting a little lost in the song, Lance pipes up again.

 

“So, what now?”

 

Keith meets his eyes again, only now his look just how they did when Lance first met him stoned off his ass in the dorm bathrooms.  _ Dreamy, like the song, _ Lance thinks. He starts to get distracted by the way the gleam of the pipe compliments the image of Keith against the dark interior of his car. The sun shines down in patches through the swaying leaves on the trees. Some of the light catches against Keith’s face, dropping glimmers of soft yellow light across his features. Lance feels his heart tighten and his fingers clench.

 

It’s that moment that Keith’s stomach growls out, and suddenly Lance is very aware of just how badly he wants to taste any kind of food possible.

 

“Is food okay with you?” Keith’s lips curve upward as he speaks.

 

“Please.” Lance grunts out, way too quickly.

 

Going on car rides while high is something he wants to experience again and again, Lance decides. It’s something about the university town scenery flying past him with Keith’s “high in traffic on a Thursday evening” playlist acting as his background music that makes him fall in love with life. The sun’s going to be setting soon, so the streetlights are shining a hue over the downtown suburban landscape ahead of him. It feels like they're in that blissful state for quite a while, cruising along like classes or deadlines didn't matter for once. It’s the first time Lance feels okay to be relaxed in a long time, and he can't help but think Keith is the source of all that. 

 

As if he sensed Lance thinking about him, Keith lightly slaps his arm to make him look over. He has a softness to his droopy eyes, pointing out the window at one of the better fast food drive throughs. Lance nods, feeling like he’s past the point of being physically capable of talking. Probably because he’s so baked.

 

Keith swerves into the side street, pulling up into the queue for ordering. “Hold your breath.” The warning comes barely seconds before he shakes the fragrance canister and releases a heavily concentrated mist. It quickly spreads throughout the car with so much force that Lance chokes for a quick second, his nose and senses overwhelmed by how intense the air smells now.

 

“Sorry,” Keith sounds more amused than actually apologetic, “I just don’t really want to smell dank when we pull up and see, like, real people.” He’s slightly snickering, but also wafting the stench away from his face.

 

“Oh my god... You’re high dude.”  _ I know I am, seeing as how I couldn't physically speak until that spray hit me,  _ he muses.

 

That gets a bark of laughter out of Keith. His eyes close tightly as a full blown smile breaks out on his face and he throws his head back against the headrest. “What makes you think that?” he teases back. 

 

Lance stutters for a second. “Hey wait- You’re being sarcastic!” His finger pokes directly into the boy’s cheek a few times, and he stares bewildered at Keith’s smug grin.

 

They pull up to order then, and Keith pushes Lance’s hands away from him as he starts reciting items from the glossy, backlit menu in front of them. “Hi, uh,” He begins, still snickering a bit, “can I get two large orders of cheese fries and two milkshakes, one chocolate and one vanilla.”

 

“Anything else?” a voice crackles back from the box.

 

Keith then turns to Lance, “Did you want anything?” His face is so reserved that Lance can't tell if he’s seriously ordering all that just for himself. He opens his mouth in shock and is about to shout back when Keith cracks another smile. “Kidding!” He turns back and tells the person taking their order that that’s it, and pulls ahead.

 

“I seriously don’t think I’ve ever seen you this high.” Lance is still staring at him

 

Keith shrugs, “I went past ‘high’ and now I’m full on blasted. Excited for these cheese fries, though.”

 

“Oh my god.” Lance buries his face in his hands, but feels the edges of his mouth pull up into a giddier smile than before.

 

Thankfully, they get their food and get out of the drive through lane fairly quick. Lance holds the food in his lap, the warm and salty smell of the fries hitting him harder than the air freshener had. He leaves the milkshakes be, and Keith drives down the main street a bit more to pull into an empty parking lot of some mechanic shop and motions for the food.

 

“So which shake is yours again?” Lance honestly can’t remember if it was mentioned at all. The past car ride seems like a hazy version of some coming of age high school movie with the music Keith chose.

 

Grabbing the vanilla shake, Keith chugs a quick sip and closes his eyes for a moment to get a full sense of the flavor. “I figured we could split them both. Having more flavors while you're high is always better anyways, but I’m sure you know that by now” 

 

Lance’s reaction was instantaneous, pulling off the most grateful look he could while he took Keith’s free hand in both of his and shook it firmly. “Thank you again, you weed god.” His glossy eyes sparkle with pure adoration in that moment for everything around him. Whatever this new strain was, it brought out 100% pure, authentic happiness in him.

 

“Just eat your fries, McClain.” Keith doesn't tug his hand away, but just lazily looks down at it while he continues sipping the shake. 

 

Lance traces down to where his gaze lies, and gingerly sets the hand back on Keith’s lap. “You right,” he snickers. He dips one of the crinkle cut fries into the side dish of hot melted cheese and prepares for a flavor explosion. 

 

It’s spectacular. The combination of soft and savory cheese flavor with the crunchy, salty base of the fry is too good to be true. “Fuuuuucckkk,” is all he can say with groans between each bite.

 

“Mhm,” Keith hums in agreement back to him, eyes fully closed and head nodding again. He’s switching between the shakes and fries.

 

_The chocolate shake._ Lance suddenly remembers there’s more food to try and sets down the cheese fries to pick up both drinks in his hands. He tastes the vanilla first, finding it to be sweet and soft, rolling the mixture over his tongue. The chocolate one comes next, filling his mouth with a richer, more decadent flavor. He gets the idea to take sips of them at the same time and leans down to chug both, a perfect harmony of taste dancing through his senses. _Now that’s some kind of Ratatouille_ _flavor._ “Keith. Try both.” He shoves them onto the other’s lap just as he stuffs his face with another couple of fries.

 

Keith obliges, handling both cups and sipping through both straws just as Lance did. He gets momentarily lost in the flavor as well, but Lance’s eyes are hyper focused on the small bit of vanilla ice cream resting at the side Keith’s mouth. “You got something uh, there.” He steadily points to the corner of his mouth and instantly regrets telling him. 

 

Keith perks up with an “Oh?” and he slowly drags his tongue across his bottom lip, watching Lance’s eyes the entire time for confirmation that he got it. Which, he totally misses it, even with that semi-lewd display.

 

_ I wonder if his lips taste as good as the milkshakes.  _ Before Lance can register what he’s doing, he has a hand reached out that holds Keith’s chin in place and his thumb swipes the rest of the vanilla cream off his mouth. He draws his hand back and instinctively drags his thumb into his own mouth, tasting the combination of the salt from the fries and the sweet vanilla.  _ Fuck fuck fuck _ , is all he can think as he internally panics while his eyes stay locked on to Keith, whose face is glowing red to match his glazed eyes. 

 

Keith drops his gaze back down to his fries and mutters a soft, “Thanks,” and turns up the volume on the car radio a bit.

 

“No problem.” Lance replies back shakily, He can’t stop staring at the blush high on the other’s cheeks. Just like Keith’s laugh, Lance internally makes it a goal to make him blush more often. 

 

They speedily finish the rest of their food, even though Lance took time to chew slowly in time with the music in order for the full effect of the flavors to take place. He catches Keith bopping his head slightly in different directions to the tune, playing with the beats in his head as they dropped patches of sensation across his skin. 

 

“You make really good playlists, y’know,” Lance comments, fully slouched in his seat with all his food finished and discarded on the floor.

 

“Thanks, I just have a lot of experience of listening to music high I guess.” Keith then rattles off some of his favorite artists to listen to for different kinds of highs, Lance listening attentively. They end up passing the phone back and forth, adding individual songs to the queue for the rest of the night. 

 

The sun has fully set now, and the streetlights above them just barely illuminate their faces. After sitting and taking in the atmosphere for a little while, Lance realizes his high has died down for the most part. Keith seems to be dealing with the same, because he’s preparing to start the car again when he glances at the container where he put his pipe away.

 

“Wanna go smoke again?” he offers. “I don't think I can handle campus sober right now.”

 

Lance shares his sentiment. “Alright, but we should probably find somewhere else to park for a while.” Keith nods in response, starting up his car and pulling out of the empty lot. After another short ride, they settle into a large shopping mall’s parking lot. They’re not too far away from the other cars, but they distance themselves from the overwhelming lights that brighten the space beneath them a little too well. 

 

“Why don’t you try packing the pipe this time?” Keith says, already grinding up a decently sized nugget from the same pill bottle as earlier. He holds open the bottom of his red metallic grinder for Lance to pick pieces out of. “You don’t want to clog the hole or stuff it too much, cuz then you won’t take in smoke through the bottom.” 

 

Lance is actually very grateful that Keith made the decision to metaphorically take him under his wing. While he never expected to get involved with drugs, or even smoke anything for that matter, Keith has shown him the ropes of this kind of leisurely activity. It's not like weed is physically addicting or anything. Lance had anxiously gone through days of research after the first night, fearful that his body would drag him to meet Keith at 3am every night the following week. It feels good to be high, and he’s been surprised at the amount of control he can have over his body even when severely baked.

 

He packs the bowl nice and light and sees Keith holding out the lighter for him to take. “Your turn to take the greens,” he says, waiting for Lance to make that perfectly dumb, determined face he loves seeing.

 

Lance focuses in on the pipe in front of him, lighting it just enough to steadily take in a careful, yet deep breath. He feels the smoke tingle as it makes its way into his lungs, but the burn feels better than before. Remembering the way Keith held in his hit earlier, Lance tries to do the same. The smoke soon comes out just as consistently as it went in, leaving him instantly feeling slightly relaxed from the effects. He goes to take another hit from the still lit greens when Keith buts in and grabs the pipe back. 

 

He’s about to protest but the words die in his throat when Keith locks eyes with his and takes a long inhale from Red. He can’t tear his gaze away, even when the pipe is pulled away and Keith opens his mouth and lets all the smoke drift out like slow fog. It rises up between them and obscures Keith’s thick lashes, which drop low as the smoke disappears more.

 

“I had to, sorry.” is his only excuse.

 

“That’s.. fine.” Lance gestures for Red and is handed the glass piece with care. He takes a hit just as he did before, and time seems to pass by slower than ever as he stays eye to eye with the boy next to him. The smoke releases between his lips and drifts around the two in swirls. He could swear he saw Keith lean in more slightly as he breathed out, but then he turns away instead, speaking to Lance in that soft voice that’s now so familiar.

 

“There’s someone standing in front of that store that closed earlier this year.” He states.

 

“Eh-What?” Lance shakes his head out of whatever moment he and Keith were just having and looks across the lot out his window. Sure enough, there’s a dark figure pacing back and forth in front of the sliding doors of the still well-lit empty store. “That’s too freaky!” Lance feels the buzzing throughout his body again, and the temperature beneath his skin ranges from hot to cold in various areas across his body. “I think I need another hit.”

 

He takes a couple smaller puffs, making sure to fully inhale each of them in quick bursts in order to feel the full effect, then passes Red back to its owner. 

 

The songs they added to the queue are playing out, some which make Lance’s mind wander and imagine more scenarios just like this one. Except in these Lance leans in across the seat as Keith almost did. In these scenarios, they’re much closer and this exact song is playing. He sees himself pressing down to catch the smoke from Keith’s lips with his own when he breathes out.  _ Oh. _ Lance thinks, stealing a glance to watch Keith take another hit. He notes how Keith has never once failed to look damn good while smoking.  _ This crush will be the death of me at this point. _

 

He replays the scenario in his head again and pictures Keith looking at him like he did when they first started the bowl. Once again the jump into blissful euphoria crashes into him fast and hard. It feels like there’s helium forcing his cheeks into a grin when he asks “Hey, what’s the name of this new strain anyways?”

 

“Paradise City.” Keith answers shortly, more wisps of smoke floating out with his words. 

 

“Whoa..” Lance starts. Another wave of tingling happiness rushes over him, leaving goosebumps all across his skin. “Nice.” His body feels so languid, and he wants to just rest his head on Keith’s shoulder and watch the lights of cars speeding by. His imagination wanders again, taking him back to a scene of pressing his lips to Keith’s and taking the smoke straight from his mouth. He shakes his head and settles for raising his fist, which Keith smirks and bumps into with his own hand curled around the lighter.

 

“Thanks for showing me what box-hotting is. I like it a lot, so we should do this more often.” Lance’s smile is wide and his sight is slightly out of focus.

 

Keith laughs softly, ignoring Lance’s mistake and replies. “We should.”

 

The night sky above them shines beyond the lights of the parking lot, and Lance feels like he could get used to these moments, as long as he has Keith by his side.


End file.
